1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data communication apparatus, and specifically relates to a data communication apparatus and method of data communication capable of communicating data over a plurality of communication lines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data communications apparatuses capable of using multiple lines including not only public telephone lines, but also internet lines and LAN lines have become increasing popularized in recent years through the equipping of the communication infrastructure. A representative example of a data communication apparatus is the internet facsimile device. Data communication apparatuses capable of using multiple lines must select the line to use for data transmission when such data are to be transmitted.
Art for selecting a transmission line is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-95312, which describes art for selecting the least expensive line for transmission from among a plurality of lines. Furthermore, Japanese-Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-145574 discloses art for sequentially trying to connect a line having the least expensive communication charge.
According to the disclosed art, the communication cost is reduced without requiring the user to select the line by automatically selecting the least expensive line from among a plurality of lines based only on input of a transmission destination.
In general, in data communication apparatuses such as facsimile devices and the like, a user may set various types of modes when transmitting a document image. Modes include, for example, document classification (color or black-and-white, photograph or text), read mode (resolution priority, or halftone priority, or reading resolution (dpi)), transmission mode (security priority, communication cost priority, reliability priority, or high-speed priority) and the like.
Accordingly, when multiple lines are usable, there is the presumption of an available optimum line corresponding to each mode due to the presence of advantages and disadvantages of data communication inherent in each line.
In data communication apparatuses such as facsimile devices and the like of the conventional art, consideration is only given to the incurred fee regardless of the set mode, such that the least expensive communication line is usually selected. For this reason, the data transmission does not sufficiently reflect the intent of the user as indicated by the set mode.
An object of the present invention is to provide a data communication apparatus having excellent operability which adequately reflects a users intention, by selecting an optimum communication line corresponding to a set mode.
These objects are attained by providing a data communication apparatus of the present invention comprising: a mode setting unit for setting mode related to data communication; selection unit for selecting a line to use for data communication from among a plurality of lines in accordance with a mode set by the mode setting unit; an input unit for inputting a transmission destination; a memory unit for storing a plurality of addresses of a transmission destination; and an acquisition unit for acquiring an address from the memory unit corresponding to a line selected by the selection unit based on the transmission destination input by the input unit.
These objects are further attained by a method of data communication of the present invention comprising the steps of: setting a mode related to data communication; selecting a line to use for data communication from among a plurality of lines in accordance with the set mode; inputting a transmission destination; and acquiring an address from the memory unit storing a plurality of addresses of transmission destinations in accordance with the selected line based on an input transmission destination.
The present invention provides a data communication apparatus and method of data communication having excellent operability adequately reflecting a users intention because an optimum communication line is selected in accordance with the mode setting.
In the following description, like parts are designated by like reference numbers throughout the several drawings.